Mike Cady
Frederick County Commissioner
Since
the Linton Farm rezoning decision to convert 138.7 acres from
Agriculture to Planned Unit Development (PUD), much was stated
in the media that condemns growth and those who support it. I
voted to rezone the land because it was consistent with the
Adamstown Region Plan and it met all of the conditions stated
in Phase I of the approval process. Phase I does not include
Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) testing for
schools and roads. That is part of Phase II. As an aside, the
763 planned dwelling units will be built at a maximum rate of
150 per year over a six-year period that cannot possibly begin
until 2009. To keep our County on the path of economic
development, approval of this rezoning case was the right
decision.
For a county to enjoy a healthy
economy, it must wed a number of initiatives into a balanced
growth plan at a pace the community can financially support
and is politically acceptable. This is not an easy task,
especially for the largest geographic county in Maryland and
one whose population grew as fast as any county east of the
Mississippi River since 1984. Residential growth combined with
business development, preservation of our agricultural
industry and retention of open space are primary
considerations. Of late, most who are out spoken, have said,
“no more residential growth.”
So what would happen if new homes were
a thing of the past? First of all, thousands of hard working
people in the home building and real estate industry would
either loose their jobs or move out of the County for work.
Second, existing employers would not expand their operations
in our County (i.e., Bechtel, who just announced plans to
close offices elsewhere in the US and bring hundreds of high
paid positions to Frederick). Third, new enterprises would not
locate in Frederick (i.e., Fannie Mae, who is building a
facility in Urbana that will initially employ approximately
250 people).
Did you know that Frederick County
lead the State in new jobs in 2002, and was second to
Montgomery County as of June, 2003? With companies like
Bechtel and Fannie Mae expanding and locating in our County,
Frederick is likely to lead the State for new jobs once again
in 2004. Businesses locate in communities where they can find
an educated and skilled workforce.
Speaking of education, last year the
Board of County Commissioners adopted a new debt affordability
model that increased by 30% the funds available for school
construction. With this new borrowing model, the Commissioners
adopted a Capital Improvement Program (CIP) that would bring
all schools to a 90% capacity level by the end of this decade.
These very acceptable capacity levels come at a time when
class sizes are being reduced to 25 for middle and high
schools and 23 for elementary schools. Also, the CIP includes
expansion of nearly every elementary school to provide for
full day kindergarten. While the State is cutting back funding
for school construction, the County is forward funding all
construction projects that have either the Interagency
Committee on School Construction (IAC) or Board of Public
Works (BPW) approval.
The number of new residential units
built in Frederick County remained amazingly constant over the
past twenty years. From 1984 to 1993, the average was 2,002
units per year and the same number held true from 1994 to
2003. Approximately 43% of the 40,040 dwelling units built in
Frederick County since 1984 were in municipalities where the
County has little influence. With this growth, the County
maintains a very balanced economic development plan.
Our County consists of 664 square
miles or 425,047 acres. In 2000, the land use was as follows:
Agriculture, Woodlands, Forests, Parks and Open Space - 84.1%;
Residential - 11%; and Commercial, Industrial, Government and
Utilities – 4.9%. If the rate of residential and business
growth continues to occur at the same pace in the next twenty
years as the past twenty years, the first group would be
reduced by 6.6% to 77.5%. Thus, more than three-fourths of our
County will be beautiful farmland, parks and forests for all
to enjoy while our economy thrives.